The Kerala High Court today allowed a tax payer to file income tax return this year without quoting Aadhaar number.
Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar admitted a petition filed by one Mr. Prasanth Sugathan challenging Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, i.e the provision mandating quoting of the Aadhaar number or enrollment ID for filing Income tax returns.
Before the High Court, the petitioner argued that the partial stay granted by the apex court in the case against compulsory linking of PAN and Aadhaar would be futile, if assesses were forced to quote their Aadhaar number while filing I-T returns.
While granting an interim relief to the petitioner, the High Court directed the income tax department to allow the petitioner to file IT returns through manual filing without insisting on Aadhaar number/ Enrolment lD during the pendency of the petition.
Recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had extended the due date for PAN-Aadhaar linkage till August 31st, 2017 and clarified that it’s not mandatory for Filing Income Tax Return this year.
Read the full text of the Order below.
